Skylor closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This time, she would do it. She stared at the rock in her hand and willed it to move. Nothing. She threw the rock down in frustration. It was hopeless. She walked back to the monastery for some water.

"How's it going?" Kai asked.

"It's not," Skylor mumbled.

"No?"

"I don't think this plan will work. I've never understood what you can do with Earth. With Fire, you can light a path or destroy buildings. With Lightning, you can zap people. With Ice, you can freeze things. What are you supposed to do with Earth? Throw rocks at people? I can do that without powers, thank you very much."

"I don't know. Cole can move the ground. He can make walls of rock appear from nowhere. He can cause earthquakes. He's also got that super strength going for him."

"Newsflash: I'm not Cole. I wish I could talk to him, though, and ask him for some advice and figure out how to do this."

"I wish I could talk to him, period," Kai sighed.

"I'm sorry, Kai." Skylor placed a hand on his shoulder.

Kai didn't say anything. He couldn't. It had been two weeks, and Cole was still comatose. Every day he didn't wake up, the odds of him ever waking went down, as Zane constantly pointed out. Kai wanted to scream at Cole and force him to wake up. He wanted to throttle Morgen's neck for what she did to her own son.

"Kai?"

"Sorry, Skylor. I just… I feel so useless. The others do too, I'm sure. When we go after Morgen, it has to work. Even if Cole… We have to get Morgen. That's all that matters." Kai couldn't admit that Cole most likely wouldn't wake up. If he did, that was like admitting defeat. The eight percent chance of him waking up is what kept Kai going, and maybe getting Morgen and finding out exactly what she did to him would uncover a cure.

"I know, and I want to help. I want to do this for Cole, but I need a teacher. I wish my mother was still around. Earth was one of the first elements she copied and mastered. At least, that's what Dad told me. He said she was almost as good as Hermes."

"Who's Hermes?"

"The Master of Earth when Dad caused the Serpentine War."

"… Is he still alive? Maybe he could teach you?"

"I don't know. Dad hasn't seen him since the War."

"Maybe Master Wu knows?"

"Maybe I know what?" Wu asked as he walked into the kitchen, stroking his beard.

"If Hermes is still alive?" Skylor asked.

"Hermes? I do not know. I have not spoken to him in nearly twenty years," Wu admitted.

"Why not?" Kai asked.

"That is a question for him. Now, both of you should be outside training. If you want to subdue Morgen, you must be at peak performance. She will not be easy to defeat." Wu turned on his heel and left.

Kai and Skylor went out into the courtyard where the others were halfheartedly training. Skylor stared at the pile of sand in the corner and sighed. She was never going to be able to manipulate it.

"Skylor?" Lloyd asked. Sensing her doubt, he walked over to her.

"I'm sorry, Lloyd. I can't do it. I've tried, but I can't access Cole's power." Skylor couldn't look at the team.

"Are you sure you copied his power?" Jay asked.

"Yes. I've copied all of your powers, and I can access all of them, except for Earth. I don't know how to access it." Skylor demonstrated her ability to use Fire, Ice, Lightning, Water, and even Lloyd's Green Energy, though it was nowhere near as powerful as his. But when she tried to manipulate the sand pile, nothing happened.

"Master Wu told us the key to unlocking our powers was to unlock what was holding us back in our hearts. Perhaps there is something holding you back from unlocking your ability to use Earth?" Zane asked.

"I don't know. I can use every other element just fine."

"What if we found Hermes and got him to teach you?" Kai asked.

"Who's Hermes?" Nya asked.

"A former Master of Earth. He fought in the Serpentine War. We don't even know if he's still alive. We've already asked Wu about it, and he doesn't know either," Skylor explained.

"I bet Lou knows," Lloyd said. Everyone stared at him.

"Lou?" Jay asked.

"Yeah. Elemental powers are passed down from parent to child. We know Morgen wanted Cole's powers for herself. He didn't say it, but I'm willing to bet she wants her powers back. Powers she inherited from her father, who is most likely Hermes. Lou might know where we can find Hermes, if he's still alive."

"But would he tell us?" Kai asked.

"I guess there's only one way to find out," Skylor said.

"Even if he does, and that's a big if, and you find Hermes, and he is Morgen's father, what are you going to do? Go up and ask him to teach Skylor how to use Earth? How do you know he would help you?" Nya pointed out.

"We don't. It's called faith, Nya. And for Cole, we have to try," Lloyd said.

"Besides, how many Hermes could there possibly be in Ninjago?" Jay asked.

The answer was one thousand, five hundred and seventy-two. Two thousand, three hundred and four if you included middle names. Even after Zane threw out everyone who was too young to be Hermes, they were still left with over twelve hundred names. Checking them all would take months. They asked Wu if he knew Hermes last name, but he did not. Reluctantly, the ninja drew straws to see who would ask Lou for information on Hermes.